Method of forming a stock pile of sulfur



Feb. 21, 1950 ,A. F. ZEMANEK' ETAL 2,498,325

METHOD OF FORMING A STOCK FILE OF SULFUR Fi led Aug. 5, 1946 I .ENANEK .SW H.F..TRE LER QB. VILLlAMS INVENTORS ATTO R N E Y8,

Patented Feb. 21, 1950 METHQD'OF FORMING A STOCK PILE OF SULFUR Arnold F.- Zemanek,Harry A. Swem, Herbert E. Treichler, @olumbus B. -Williams, and William l'cll. Kelly, Newgulifliex assignors to Texas Gulf Sulphur Company, Newgulf, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application August 5, 1946, Serial No. 688,584

3 Claims. (Cl. 18-58) The invention relates to a method of using a form in creating a stockpile of sulphur or the formation of a wall of liquid material which solidifies.

While the invention will be described as particularly adapted in the forming of a wall of sulphur, it seems obvious that it may be applied in forming concrete walls or walls of other materials which are formed of a liquid which solidifies.

It is cheer" the objects of the invention to pro- I vide a plurality of forms which may be arranged end to end in over-lapping relation in the configuration of the stockpile or wall to be constructed, where the forms create a trough to receive the liquid material and may thereafter be raised-step by step as the material congeals to form new'troughs so that the wall is progressively constructed.

Another object of the inventionis to form a sulphur stockpile by arranging forms to create a trough to receive liquid sulphur which will solidify and leave a portion of a wallas the forms are raised therefrom so that liquid sulphur may then be deposited inside the wall and by repeating such operation to eventually build the stockpile to the desired elevation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a form madeupof a pair of spaced plates and spring-likesupporting arches which will pinch against the wall being formed and which may be raised step by step to progressively construct a wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a movable form for wall constructions which is made up of a pair of spaced plates connected by spring-like arms which urge the plates together with sufficient force to retain a liquid material deposited between the plates until such material solidifies.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying' drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wall being constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating the lower portion of the wall with the forms thereon to create a trough to receive the next portion of the material;

; or eighteen inches.

is deposited in large bins known as stockpiles. Very often these bins are three hundred to five hundred feet in width and from five hundred to twelve hundred feet in lenth and eventually a pile as high as fifty or sixty feet may be created.

In the past these bins have been formedby building a wall of corrugated sheet iron nailed or tacked, or otherwise fastened, to wooden posts, timbers; orvertical pieces of metal. The wall is built up as the depositing of the sulphur occurs, it being borne in mind that melted sulphur is allowed to flow into the bin, thedisoharge being moved around the bin so that the sulphur gradually solidifies and the pile, is eventually built up.

A considerable amount of lumber or metal is required to support the walls, the discharge pipes,

and the other equipment used.

When the pile has beencompleted, it is then the'usual practice to blast off portions of the pile after the sheet iron wall has been removed. The removal of the wall is a tedious job because the sulphur has solidified against the sheet iron, around the timbers,

,andoften around the nail heads so. that it is practically impossible to remove all of the. foreign material from the. sulphur. As a result the sulphur is often contaminated with nails and pieces of wood.

The present, invention contemplates a series of forms which can be arranged in theconfiguration ofthe pipe which. is to be created so as to I form a trough into which the liquid sulphur may be deposited to a height of approximately sixteen The sulphur -is then allowed to congeal and the form is of suohconstruction that it can then be raised in a step by step process. vAs the stockpile is formed, a Wallis created progressively so as .to retain the sulphur.

In Fig; l the form 2'is made up of the side plates 3 and .4.' Inactualpractice these. are

aluminum plates approximately one-quarter of -an inch'in thickness, eighteeninches wide, and

about eight feet in length. Amxed'to thesev plates are the arches or supports 5, 'two of which are shown, one adjacent each end of the plates.

These arches 5 are preferably of'aluminum pipe and have sufficient spring-like action due to their configuration so that the form as a whole assumes the position shown in Fig. 2 with the lower edges i of the plates slightly closer together than the top edges 8. The top edges 8, however, are spaced apart the thickness of the wall ill which is to be formed. In this manner the pinching action of the plates against the wall due to the spring pressure from the arch supports 5 serve to retain the plates in proper position and to confine the liquid sulphur or other material which is deposited between them.

In order to properly position the forms so that they will be raised the same distance each time, the positioning lugs l2 are shown as having been struck from the material of the plates and extending inwardly to form a shoulder l3 which will rest upon the upper surface M of the wall 16. The inclined surface l5 of these lugs permits them to slide out of the sulphur wall, leaving a slight recess I6 as seen in the center portion of Fig. l.

The ends 18 of the plates are shown as slightly over-lapping in Fig. 1' so as to forma continuous trough to receive the liquid material.

In starting the operation the forms will be arranged end to end in slightly over-lapping position on the ground or on the surface where the wall is to be formed. They can be built up along the lower edges with earth so as to form a seal and confine the liquid material. They will be arranged in the'configuration of the wall which is to be created and then the liquid material can be deposited in the trough thus formed. After the material has solidified, the next portion or section of the wall can be created by merely pulling upwardly on the form so as to cause the lugs l2 to move out of the, recesses 16 and the form is then moved upwardly until the lugs snap in over the I top H of the wall which has already been formed.

This section of retainer wall can now be utilized stockpile this layer of sulphur 29 will congeal and bond itself to the well ill. Layer after layer can .be deposited inside the wall l6 until the surface 2i of such layers approaches the lower edge 1 of the forms. Either prior to or at this time, additional sulphur can be deposited in the trough created by the forms so as to build the next increment of the wall. When this next increment is completed the form can then again be raised so that the stockpile is built progressively and a smooth, clean wall is formed. This is particularly true of the outer surface 25 of the wall It) so that the stockpile presents a heat and pleasing appearance.

In actual practice it has been found that one or two attendants are capable of handling the distribution of sulphur, moVing'of-the forms, and depositing of the sulphur in the trough as the stockpile is built; whereas, heretofore, it took a considerable number of men to build the sheet iron walls as the sulphur was deposited. By the previous procedure the removal of the wooden or metal supports caused an unsightly appearance on the outside of the stockpile and left many pieces of wood and metal imbedded in the sulphur.

Broadly the invention contemplates a means and method of forming walls of liquid material which is adapted to solidify where such wall i created by a step by step process. I

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming a stockpile of sulphur which comprises positioning a plurality of plate 4 forms in overlapped end to end relation to form a trough the shape of the stockpile, depositing liquid sulphur in such trough where it is retained by such forms until it solidifies, raising the forms a distance just less than the width of the plates thereof so that the bottom edges of the plates pinch against the solidified sulphur sufficiently to retain the next batch of liquid deposited in the new elevated trough thus formed, repeatedly depositing layers of liquid sulphur Within the wall enclosure thus formed to a relatively shallow depth so that each deposited layer solidifies prior to the deposit of the next layer of the stockpile, and repeating such depositing until the level of the upper surface of the stockpile approaches the bottom of the forms, then depositing additional liquid sulphur in the trough to solidify and provide an additional increment of sulphur wall, and again raising the forms after such last trough deposited sulphur solidifies to form an additional wall increment, and repeatedly again filling the newly formed wall enclosure until the solid sulphur stockpile reaches the desired height so that the wall contains no foreign matter as the forms are finally removed.

2. A method of forming a solid stockpile of sulphur comprising, depositing liquid sulphur within a mold board wall form to provide an increment of an enclosure wall, allowing the sulphur to solidify, raising the wall form onthdsolidified increment of wall, depositing a relatively thin layer of molten sulphur Within the walk-enclosure, I

allowing such lawers of molten sulphur to solidify, and repeating such operations until a solid stockpile of sulphur is formed.

3. A method of building a solid sulphur stockpile which comprises, progressively building. increment after increment of a solid sulphur enclosure wall, and alternately between the forming ,of increments, filling each increment with a plurality of layers of sulphur deposited in molten form and allowed to solidify to provide a solid integral pile of solidified sulphur.

ARNOLD F; ZEMANEK. HARRY A. SWEM.. 'HERBERT E. TREICHLER. COLUMBUS B. WILLIAMS. WILLIAM H. KELLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A METHOD OF FORMING A STOCKPILE OF SULPHUR WHICH COMPRISES POSITIONING A PLURALITY OF PLATE FORMS IN OVERLAPPED END TO END RELATION TO FORM A TROUGH THE SHAPE OF THE STOCKPILE, DEPOSITING LIQUID SULPHUR IN SUCH TROUGH WHERE IT IS RETAINED BY SUCH FORMS UNTIL IT SOLIDIFIES, RAISING THE FORMS A DISTANCE JUST LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF THE PLATES THEREOF SO THAT THE BOTTOM EDGES OF THE PLATES PINCH AGAINST THE SOLIDIFIED SULPHUR SUFFICIENTLY TO RETAIN THE NEXT BATCH OF LIQUID DEPOSITED IN THE NEW ELEVATED TROUGH THUS FORMED, REPEATEDLY DEPOSITING LAYERS OF LIQUID SULPHUR WITHIN THE WALL ENCLOSURE THUS FORMED TO A RELATIVELY SHALLOW DEPTH SO THAT EACH DEPOSITED LAYER SOLIDIFIES PRIOR TO THE DEPOSIT OF THE NEXT LAYER OF THE STOCKPILE, AND REPEATING SUCH DEPOSITING UNTIL THE LEVEL OF THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE STOCKPILE APPROACHES THE BOTTOM OF THE FORMS, THEN DEPOSITING ADDITIONAL LIQUID SULPHUR IN THE TROUGH TO SOLIDIFY AND PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL INCREMENT OF SULPHUR WALL, AND AGAIN RAISING THE FORMS AFTER SUCH LAST TROUGH DEPOSITED SULPHUR SOLIDIFIES TO FORM AN ADDITIONAL WALL INCREMENT, AND REPEATEDLY AGAIN FILLING THE NEWLY FORMED WALL ENCLOSURE UNTIL THE SOLID SULPHUR STOCKPILE REACHES THE DESIRED HEIGHT SO THAT THE WALL CONTAINS NO FOREIGN MATTER AS THE FORMS ARE FINALLY REMOVED. 